


Trouvaille

by bloodstained_blackrabbit



Category: The Islands of Laoga (Podcast)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28846788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodstained_blackrabbit/pseuds/bloodstained_blackrabbit
Summary: Einar finds comfort in his routine. Nothing can go wrong when everything is the same every day. But when a beautiful woman walks into his cafe, his whole routine gets thrown out the window.Aka the modern day, slowburn coffee shop au
Relationships: Einar/Leah





	1. Call it Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He found comfort in his routine. With routine, there was little room for something to go awry, and even if it did, it wouldn't be something so wildly off course that Einar wouldn't be able to handle it. That is, until a mysterious woman enters the picture.

He found comfort in his routine. With routine, there was little room for something to go awry, and even if it did, it wouldn't be something so wildly off course that Einar wouldn't be able to handle it. So today was just like any other day; he woke up and carefully folded each of his blankets into a neat pile at the end of his bed. He made his way from the loft to the kitchen, providing his Saint Bernard with breakfast before cooking some up for himself. He scrolled through his social media (one he rarely posted on but still enjoyed for viewing purposes), and sent a quick obligatory reply to his grandparents "Good morning Einar, we will be expecting you for dinner on Sunday. Be well."

He couldn't even snicker at the formality anymore, as it was the only way they addressed him after moving out. That was their deal after all, they'd grant Einar the funds he needed for his above restaurant apartment, as well as the restaurant-turned-cafe below, as long as he returned once a week and if they ever needed him. And hey, it seemed like a more than fair trade, and a good opportunity to prove he could be on his own. He'd have to be stupid not to jump at the chance. 

"C'mon Big Boy," Einar called, the dog immediately coming to attention. "Time to start the day."

As per routine, Einar made his way downstairs, Big Boy close behind before taking his place in the window. Einar watered the plants tastefully scattered around the cafe. He made sure they had enough ingredients for today's pastries, ground the morning's worth of beans for coffee; prepped what he could for the afternoon. At 9am on the dot, he flipped the little wooden sign above the door to Open. From there it was like clockwork. Making coffee was something he enjoyed, a step by step process, though each one specialized for every customer. A little extra cream here, completely black there, a heart topped latte. He wasn't a popular shop by any means, but the ones who came once always seemed to find their way back.

"You've been doing the same thing every day all day for a month now, doesn't it get dull?" The curly haired female whined, her head resting in both her hands as she leaned across the table Einar was currently wiping down.

"I don't know, I think it's nice...Secure," he replied, bumping his one and only friend's elbows off the furniture in order to clean underneath. "That's not so bad, right?"  
Talia just hummed in reply, taking another sip of her hazelnut latte. "Doesn't leave you time for anything else though. People especially."

Einar snorted, tossing the towel over his shoulder before rolling his eyes at Talia. "People especially, huh?" He reiterated. "What kind of people Talia, you're the only one I talk to in a 50 mile radius. Even more than that, considering you’re my only friend."

"You work in a coffee shop Einar, literally just pick someone. What about him, he's here a couple times a week, right?" She gestured to a big blonde man sitting at one of the sun tables, sipping what Einar knew to be a hot chocolate. It was rather innocent, definitely not the regular drink Einar would guess for someone so tall and built.

"I don't think we'd have much in common," he replied, not sure how to entertain even the thought. "I don't even know his name, he always gives me an alias when he orders. Ah, he says it's Pompom," he supplied in response to the strange face Talia made.

"Wait you're serious?" She laughed, slightly incredulous. "What kind of a name is Pompom?"

"I don't know, ask him!" As if on cue, the blonde looked up just in time to catch Einar's eye, smiling and waving and the barista. Einar of course smiled back as a formality, but that's all it really was - a formality. "It's fine Talia, I'm happy like this." He looked away, not quite convincingly. His posture was poised, but there seemed to be a sense of longing about his aura. Not that he would ever recognize, let alone admit to it. "This is what I wanted."

Talia just hummed, her nose slightly scrunched as she eyed him over. It didn't take a lot to know he was lying, even if he was doing his best to convince himself. Nonetheless she sighed, stretching her arms across the table much like a cat. "Whatever you say, bud. I've got classes late tonight, but I'm still down for Disney movies if that's what you wanted to do."

Einar blinked a couple times, pulling himself back with the quick topic change. "Yeah, of course! Only if you're feeling up for it though, I can only imagine how much work a double major in polysci and international relations is."

She groaned, downing the rest of her latte. "I don't wanna think about it. Anyway I'll see you tonight, don't die until then." She saluted and winked on the way out, stopping at the pastry counter to grab a bite size muffin. Einar half expected her to shove it in her mouth as she left, but was surprised when she stopped to place it carefully on a napkin beside the blonde man they had previously been discussing. "Pompom" looked up a little surprised, and then looked to Einar when Talia said something and pointed. While the barista did his best to hide his immediate anxiety, the other smiled brightly and waved at him again, before pointing at the muffin and giving Einar a thumbs up with a ridiculously large smile painted across his face.  
Einar, of course, gave a slightly panicky/clueless smile and a thumbs up in return, and then immediately turned away. He never did much more than small talk with his guests, and God only knew what Talia might have said.

Instead of thinking about it, he threw himself back into his routine. Brew the coffee, clean the tables, sweep. Restock the pastries, brew another coffee. Smile, laugh, small talk. Repeat. This was good, this was what he could handle.

So pray tell, when a woman at least a half foot taller than him, wearing a black leather jacket and a look of confidence that said she could fight God and win, ordered a caramel macchiato with extra caramel in some heavy North Eastern accent, pray tell why Einar felt in that exact moment, that he would never feel satisfied with his routine again. That is, unless she, and the way she said caramel, became part of his every day.

This was not something he could handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're here before the podcast is out, welcome! You've been recruited ahead of time, and probs have no clue what's happening lol. In short it's a D&D podcast, and the fic is based on friends' characters. If you have questions hmu


	2. Call it Rationality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Talia harasses him for it, Einar tries to convince himself that Leah is just another customer (spoiler alert he's just in denial)

"I'll have a caramel macchiato, please?" She said to him, making eye contact so direct, Einar had to fight the urge to look away.

Instead he smiled warmly, jotting down in his notebook. "One macchiato, you got it. Did you need anything to snack on? I've got a fresh batch of cookies coming out in about 4 minutes."

"Ah no, not today," she replied. "But extra caramel in the drink." She looked expectantly at the male before adding a curt, "please."

He nodded and smiled again. "Sure thing. Can I just get a name on the order?"

The female pursed her lips, as if she was trying to decide on a name. It was something Einar was used to seeing, people hesitating on name release. Some thought it was fun to give wacky names or just didn't feel comfortable giving out their given names publicly. He even had a few transgender kids come in and test different names out - those were always his favorite to see, especially the way they'd light up upon finding how well the name fit them. "If you're not comfortable sharing, that's alright,” he attempted in reassurance. “I just use them to keep track of the orders. We can mark it a different-"

"Leah. I do not mind sharing. My name is Leah."

Leah. It fit her, almost angelic, along with her appearance. Her long white hair was tied up in a messy bun, small strands falling around her face to frame sharp features. Her expression was stoic, but there was a glint of something in her eyes that looked almost like... innocence? Stop staring.

"Leah, yes, no problem." Einar pulled himself together, ears burning as he hoped to God that she didn't notice. "I'll get that ready for you."

Retreating behind the bar, he refused to look back up at her table until the drink was finished. When he finally did though, he was surprised to find her watching him, a curious expression on her face. Once again, he refused to let himself think about it.

"There you are Miss Leah, one caramel macchiato with extra caramel."

"Thank you…" she trailed off in inflection and cocked an eyebrow, as if expecting the barista to finish the sentence.

"Oh! It's Einar, I own the shop."

"Ah, well then thank you Einar. Do I need to pay now or after I have finished?" She began reaching into her back pocket, to grab what Einar assumed would be her wallet.

"No need!" He said quickly, waving a hand to stop her. "Your first visit is on the house." That of course, was not true, and not even Einar knew why he said it.

Leah looked at him with her brow furrowed in confusion, as if being given discounts wasn’t something she was used to. "I… do not need to pay?"

***

Talia listened to Einar recap his day while Aristocats played on the TV, lips tucked between her teeth in attempts to hold in the snicker she was clearly fighting.

"And then she said that it was not a good business practice to give things away for free…" Einar shoved his face into the pillow, mortified as Talia howled with laughter. She kept opening her mouth like she wanted to speak, but all that came out was wheezes. "It's not funny! How was I supposed to know she would respond like that, usually people are all over free stuff!" He threw his pillow at her when she dramatically fell off the couch, tears streaming down her face. "I hate you so much."

The day had passed, and Talia kept true to her word and showed up at the cafe later that night. Being a childhood friend of Einar's, he had long since given her a key to the place, giving her somewhere to come and relax whenever she needed a break from school or her parents, as she often did as he had once needed with his grandparents. As such, she let herself in, flopped onto the couch, and loaded Disney+, which led to the current situation.

It took a whole forty-one seconds for Talia to stop laughing long enough that she could speak, a time span that only made Einar deflate more and more by the second. "I'm proud of you for trying," she gasped, slapping Einar supportively on the shin, as she had made no effort to get off the floor. "Oh honey, I can't decide if you're just that bad at flirting and she completely denied you or if - no, no that's probably it."

"I wasn't flirting with her!" He defended, slapping her hand away. "Nothing even close, she just seemed nice and I thought it might be an easy way to get another good regular for the shop to build up customers and stop looking at me like that."

Talia had sat up and was nodding with mock understanding and a smug expression. "It's okay to want connections with people Einar, you're allowed to have friends, besides just me."

He rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the couch. "I'm going to get more popcorn. Big Boy," the dog lifted his head from where he lay on his huge dog bed, awaiting Einar's orders. "Come sit," he supplied, pointing directly at Talia. Big Boy got up right away, completely ignoring Talia's stream of "nononononono" as Einar walked towards the kitchen. There was a yelp and a thump, and Einar smiled to himself knowing BB had done his job well.

Waiting for the popcorn to pop, Einar's mind began to wander. He wasn't trying to flirt with Leah, he didn't even know her. He wasn't blind though, he could appreciate a person's beauty without immediately falling for them, that'd be stupid. And foolish. And kind of pathetic. Which he wasn't. Especially not for this reason. So why did he offer her the free coffee? It wouldn't be such a big deal if he had done it before but...not even Talia got free coffee. Sometimes Einar had her do tastings sure, but she had her tab that she always paid for. Being trained since birth to take over the family business, giving away things for free for no reason - it just wasn't something Einar did, or even felt comfortable doing unless it benefited his business in the long run. Did this benefit his business? Did it benefit... him?

The timer on the microwave beeped and graciously gave him an excuse to stop that thought in its tracks. He didn't have to like Leah, he just thought she was...neat.

By the time he got back, the credits were rolling on the movie, and Talia was draped on top of Big Boy, presumably to keep Big Boy from being on top of her. "Oh good, just in time. Hand me the remote, I wanted to watch Robin Hood."

He did as he was told and left her to start the next movie, taking back his seat on the couch as he snacked. "Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary happened today. Pompom left me an extra tip though, I'm assuming that was your doing?"

Talia hummed without looking at the other, pressing play. "I didn't do anything, just bought him a mini muffin."

Einar eyed her over suspiciously, but couldn't quite read her blank expression. Talia had a habit of sticking her nose in other people's business, especially his. He sighed, instead popping another kernel into his mouth. "What about you? Anything new going on at school?"

"Mm not really, same old stress. Some new kid transferred in today, a prissy bitch boy who struts everywhere. I mean, who even joins a program like polysci two months into the semester? He's got what's coming, I can tell you that."

"You seem very passionate about your immediate feelings for this guy," Einar mused, ignoring the dirty look Talia threw at him.

"Don't worry, he's no Leah. He may look pretty but I will absolutely not be getting involved with him. He hit on at least 3 girls within the first 10 minutes of class, I think a guy too. I'll have no part of that, thanks." It was said with such finality that Einar couldn't argue, though he did think it was humorous that she felt so strongly against whoever-he-was. (He pointedly chose to ignore the Leah comment, he was done thinking about, let alone discussing, the topic for the night. And forever, probably.)

And so they spent the evening, making pointless small talk and watching another couple Disney movies, just trying their best to forget the problems of their everyday life. And in Einar’s case, trying to forget the mysterious woman who entered his shop this morning, that he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about since.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo chapter 2. Normal updates don't exist in this world but there will be a chapter 3 eventually probably

**Author's Note:**

> If you're here before the podcast is out, welcome! You've been recruited ahead of time, and probs have no clue what's happening lol. In short it's a D&D podcast, and the fic is based on friends' characters. If you have questions hmu


End file.
